Julie DOWLING

born 1969, Perth, Western Australia
lives and works Perth, Western Australia
Skin name: Bar-niga
Language group: Badimaya/Yamatji

Julie Dowling's paintings reinforce that the personal is always political. Weaving together the elements of portraiture, decoration and text they explore new interpretations of history and the relationships between white and Indigenous Australians. Julie has twice been a finalist in the Archibald Portrait Prize, featured in the collections of most of the state galleries and has been named as one of Australian Art Collector magazine's most collectable artists. In 2006 Julie Dowling received an honorary doctorate in Literature from Murdoch University.  

Minority Rites shows three generations of the artist’s family who have had contact with Christianity. It is also a celebration of the colours of the Aboriginal flag designed by Harold Thomas in 1971. The flag was designed to be a rallying symbol for Aboriginal people and a symbol for unifying strength. The black represents the Aboriginal people, the red is the earth and our spiritual relationship to the land and the yellow represents the sun, the giver of life.


 The painting on the right in black is a depiction of my great-great grand mother Melbin who was taken from the bush near Yalgoo in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. She is standing with her daughter Mary who was taken from her to live with wadjula (white people). The crucifix symbol is on top of the horizon while the bottom is the lay of the land symbolised by concentric lines.
 
The central painting in yellow shows my great grand mother, Mary Latham while pregnant with her daughter May (the eldest of her many children). The background shows the same symbol for the land.
 
The painting on the left in red shows my great Auntie May as a young woman in the 1940’s in her best dress. The background shows the land symbol within a circle around her head as well as small hands reaching for the Yamatji symbol for water and river lines. Below the symbols for (Ngapi) water are more crucifixes.

I wanted to also illustrate the tensions which have existed between Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal cultures regarding the use of religion as a colonising tool. I also wanted to reflect on the history of forced removal and the tug of war between religions to get Indigenous souls to convert within Western Australia.  My great grandmother, Mary Latham was taken from her mother Melbin who was “saved” from the bush and was baptised in the Church of England. Melbin’s daughter, Mary Oliver was taken from her and baptised Anglican. Mary Oliver’s daughter, May Latham was also taken from her mother and she was subsequently baptised catholic. This took less than 40 years to achieve.

Julie Dowling 2003

Other selected artwork acquisitions